


Something Terrifying, Something Soft

by Jay_the_Dragon



Category: Original Work
Genre: F/M, Ghost Hunters, Graphic Depictions of Illness, Graphic Description of Corpses, Past Character Death, Past Rape/Non-con, Past Torture, Supernatural Elements
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-17
Updated: 2017-01-30
Packaged: 2018-08-15 12:56:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,796
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8057260
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jay_the_Dragon/pseuds/Jay_the_Dragon
Summary: A new house, and it's a Victorian. Really, Carter should have seen this coming. At least it won't hurt him, not on purpose. It does have a secret though.





	1. The First Encounter

On August 9th, 201X, Carter Aviles had his first supernatural encounter. He had gotten an old Victorian home for his wife, son, and soon-to-be second child. Carter had a habit of running his hands along the walls and doors of any new house he entered. His little boy, Jack, had taken up the habit as well, so they went throughout the house and felt the walls and doors, some with peeling paint and some with a fresh coat.  
He had been broken out of his thoughts by a soft noise. It came from the new dining room. Jack didn't seem to notice him enter, instead continuing along the hallway. The rooms always came last.  
Inside the dining room, it seemed like the Antarctic. His breath fogged up the air and he felt his fingertips go numb quickly. A tiny figure stood with its back facing him. Carter stepped forward, ready to speak. He was frozen in his tracks when the person's head whipped around to look at him. It had light bluish-grey skin, with tears running constantly down its cheeks. Purple lips drew most of his attention, pouting and quivering. Long, silver curls framed the sad-looking puppy dog face and matched its eyes. No pupil. Or maybe it was just a pupil with no iris? Either way, they were grey and lifeless.  
The light coming through the window didn't seem to cast a shadow on the floor. Even if the night gown it wore was thin and flowy, it seemed to have some sort of mass. It turned completely and stepped towards him. A heavy chain dragged against the floor, connected to its left ankle. It let out a soft moan and tilted its head as it walked.  
The closer it got, the harder Carter found it to breathe. He couldn't take air in anymore, but he didn't feel like he was choking. Its thin fingers reached out to try and touch him, gripping his shoulder with painful force. It let out more pitiful, raspy whines and moans, seemingly wanting to talk. It rested its light head on his chest and he no longer had a pulse. He wanted to scream, yell, throw whatever it was away from him. No, he couldn't do anything as it howled softly against his skin.  
It seemed to sense his discomfort and fear, and backed away. The figure let out one last cry as it flickered out of sight.  
Carter sucked in oxygen painfully and fell to the floor. He coughed and choked on his first few breaths. Stephanie ran in at the sound and immediately went to his side.  
"Honey, what happened? Are you okay?" He nodded and stood up. Jack was in the doorway, watching in confusion. The temperature was back to normal and he regained feeling rather quickly. There was no sign that anything had happened here except for his flushed face and heavy breathing.  
Now, remember. This was his first encounter. He didn't know what to make of the creature that had just tried to speak to him. It certainly wasn't his last time seeing it.  
"Carter? Baby, say something." He realized that he'd been staring off and shook his head.  
“I’m fine. I swear. Don’t worry about me. Let’s keep unpacking.” Stephanie looked unconvinced, but nodded and stood up, pulling Carter with her. They finished the next day.


	2. Home Alone For a Few Hours

A month or so later, he was home alone. Jack was at school and Stephanie had convinced him to stay home for this check-up. He had to find a job, so he searched through the newspapers and scrolled through websites, and found a few that he'd written down to choose from.

Carter was once again torn away from his mind when the temperature dropped drastically. Cries could be heard from the living room and he scrambled to hide. They grew closer, the mournful sounds filling his ears and blocking any emotions but sadness and fear. He didn't feel his lungs seizing up like last time and he breathed quietly through his nose to avoid detection.

A grey foot with a cuff and chain around the ankle stepped into his view from under the island in the kitchen. The howling grew louder still, and he felt like his ears were bleeding and his head was about to burst. Then, it stopped. The only noise was now the scraping of the chain against the kitchen floor and tiny moans. It got down on its knees and placed its hands in its lap. The fingernails were still slightly sharp and trimmed haphazardly. The curls fell down its back and some on its chest. Carter felt like he was stuck in a blizzard, the cold buffeting him relentlessly.

It reached under the island and grabbed his neck clumsily. He was dragged out and cried when it leaned its face towards his. Its chest heaved with the effort of breathing, yet no air hit his face. He whimpered pitifully and it shushed him with another moan.

Its hands moved around his body, feeling him curiously. Drops of suprisingly warm liquid hit his face from where it dripped from the thing's eyes. He tried not to gag or squirm when cold, dead lips touched his skin. It didn't feel like it was trying to do anything sexual. It held him close, attempting to steal his warmth for its own, and it was fucking succeeding. He let out a ragged sob and it pulled away. It searched him with its eyes, but in his mind, it looked like it was planning an attack.

The slamming of a door interrupted its analysis and signaled the sound of Jack coming home. The figure stood and disappeared. He sighed in relief and stood up on shaky legs. He felt like Bambi learning how to walk as he made his way back to his seat. His son bounced into the kitchen, smiling and holding a few sheets of paper.

"How was your day, Jacky?" he asked, trying to calm his breathing and hoping that the kid wouldn't notice how distressed he looked.

If he noticed, he didn't seem to care. "It was awesome! I had art today and my teacher says I'm really good and that I should keep painting!" He hopped up into the bar stool and displayed his paintings on the table. There were two of what Carter assumed to be the family. On one was a little boy next to what seemed to be Jack, and on the other was a little blonde girl. The other three were filled with various animals and leaves.

Carter had to admit, despite the crude stick-figure style, they weren't messy or covered in random paint splotches like he had seen on the paintings and drawings at Jack's school. He smiled proudly and kissed his son's forehead, causing him to giggle.

Another slam of the door signified Stephanie's return. She smiled at the both of them and set down her keys and wallet. Her face was merry and steps surprisingly light, despite her constantly growing belly.

"I take it everything is going okay?" She nodded as she poured a glass of orange juice.

"Everything is fine and healthy," Steph said and turned towards him again. She paused and the smile momentarily disappeared. "Honey, are you okay? You look like you're about to be sick."

Carter nodded and held up one of Jack's drawings to change the subject. She smiled and gushed over how beautiful it was, making their child's smile even wider. There was no other incidents for the rest of the evening and for a few months, everything was normal.


	3. A Warning

In December, Jack had run into their room shrieking and crying, babbling about a monster in his bed. Carter told Stephanie to go back to sleep and walked down the hall to the smaller bedroom. That thing was in his son's bed. It had appeared to his son, but didn't seem to be consciously doing it.

The air was too cold to be from the night, with the heat on and all windows closed. It writhed above the covers, yet hardly made a dent. Jack was sobbing just outside the door and he held him close, kissing his forehead.

"Don't worry buddy. I'll take care of it. You're safe," he whispered soothingly. When Jack quieted down, he could hear painful cries silently filtering through the open doorway. Stepping inside almost made him collapse. The air was worse inside, somehow blocked from the hallway by the door. It reeked of feces and decay and he felt frostbite trying to creep up his limbs.

The howls made his head pound heavily. Carter tried to ignore the stench, instead creeping closer to it, the squirms and crying too painful for the father to watch. He felt a feverish heat begin to draw him in. It heavily contrasted with the cold outer air. Its eyes were clenched tightly shut and sweat soaked the thin night gown.

He reached a hand out to try and disturb whatever dreams it was having and frighten it off. It must have felt his cooler skin breaking through the fever, because it latched on to his arm and held on like a lifeline. The jagged nails dug in and it arched its back and its eyes flew open. Instead of lifeless grey circles, pitch diamonds were centered in its eyes. They were unfocused, and twitched erratically.

Carter pressed his other hand to the bluish skin of its cheek. The way it whined and clutched onto him reminded him of a young child experiencing a bad illness for the first time. He sat down and pressed a soothing kiss to its forehead.

It only screamed more and tried to pull him towards it, eyes shut again. He wrapped his arms around the thin, too hot body in the bed. It scrabbled at his back, trying to find purchase in the skin on his shoulders. The sobs quieted, wails faded. It sighed and released his skin from the sharp pierce of its nails. The fever simmered down to room temperature and the cold was gone.

Soon, the figure in his arms flickered like a light and went out. He could still smell the malodor that had permeated the room, but it was faint and would most likely be gone in less than a few hours. Something warm and wet oozed from the marks on his back, presumably blood. He didn't care.

Once Jack was settled, he walked to the bathroom. Carter tried not to cry out at the pain in his shoulders as he twisted to get a look at the cuts. He pulled out the first aide kit and got out everything he would need. A soft moan drew his attention to the toilet, where the figure sat on the lid. It looked at the blood oozing from where its nails had dug in and stood up.

He backed up for a second, worried that it might want to scratch up his skin some more, but stopped. It walked slowly, tripping over its chain every so often. With much cooler hands, it brought him into a light embrace. An apology. It rubbed its cheek on his collar bone like a cat trying to appease their owner. He brought up a hand to touch the silvery strands of hair that curtained around its face. They were hardly there, his hand slipping through them once of twice, but when they were, the curls were more matted than he had expected. They felt unwashed and filthy, but it seemed to appreciate the gesture.

Without warning, it was gone again. He put his hand down and grabbed the hand towel he'd set out. With cool water, he cleaned out the scrapes and placed band aides over them, sometimes gauze for the worse ones.


	4. Finding The Body

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo, so sorry for the long wait. I haven't been able to get on the internet for a while. I'll start tryin to update regularly.

The next morning, he decided to find a solution to his problem. A few "paranormal investigators" came up on the first page of Google, but the reviews called them frauds and scammers.  
Seeing "Supernatural Team," he almost laughed as the page loaded. These guys seemed pretty serious, though. There were a ton of reviews saying that they were a good team to hire if any supernatural problems happened. He sent an email to the address listed under Contact Information.

Dear Supernatural Team,  
I have recently had a problem with what I believe to be a spirit haunting my house. I am not the only one to have seen it, since my son has witnessed its appearance as well. It drops the temperature whenever it appears and seems to be mostly harmless, except for stressing me out and unintentionally hurting me on one occasion. I would like to know why it is here and if there is possibly a way to get rid of it.  
Thank you,  
Carter Aviles

Less than half an hour later, he got a reply saying that they could come out and see what was happening. He sent back his address and was relieved when there was a knock on his door and five people waiting outside with equipment. They came in and got set up.  
One of the women, who he learned was called Taylor, grabbed a small, remote-like device out of a bag and turned it on. A green light shone on the far corner, sometimes going up to yellow, but never going past that.  
"There's something here, but it doesn't seem to want to come out," she said to the others.  
"We'll have to wait and see. Let's try walking around the bottom floor first." Michael had spoken up as he placed candles, salt, gasoline, and a few matches on the dining room table.  
They all looked up at each other when the temperature dropped. The woman holding the remote thing held it up for the team to see. The orange light was on. She smiled and leaned against a chair.  
A howl sounded from down the hall. They moved towards it slowly, as if approaching an injured animal. The team didn't get very far, however, because it shimmered into view next to Carter. It clung to him like a sloth and wailed again, this time into his ear.  
Another woman named Sabrina grabbed the salt that had been set out and began sprinkling a circle around them. He was about to object when the leader raised a finger to his lips and gestured to it. He understood and closed his mouth. When she was finished, he was yanked out of the circle and the thing's grasp. It screeched and whined like a child when he was pulled away.  
Jasper, the communicator, grabbed some yellow chalk and a mini chalkboard from a bag against the wall. It pushed them away and hugged its knees to its chest. Carter took the items and gently set them inside the circle.  
"We want to ask you some questions. Is that alright?" Taylor asked softly. It looked up and nodded, flinging some tears onto the floor. The tiny hands reached out and grabbed the chalk and chalkboard.  
"Okay, what is your name?" It sat in silence for a short period, before scribbling out something on the board. It held it up shakily.  
'William,' was scrawled neatly on the black surface. Carter watched it intently as it erased its writing.  
"Do you have a body somewhere in this house?" Jasper tried. He wiggled uneasily on the floor.  
William dropped the board like it had been struck. More tears fell with the natural ones and it snarled at Jasper. He looked taken aback, and Carter understood why.  
"William, please calm down. We just want to help," Sabrina reasoned, and it seemed to calm down at that. She continued. "Judging by that reaction, I take it you have a body?" A nod. "If we let you out, can you show us where it is?" It nodded again.  
Michael swept away the salt, allowing William to launch itself into Carter's chest. It nuzzled him softly, freezing skin causing goosebumps to appear. He stroked through the grey curls again and it sighed against him.  
"C'mon, William. We need to see your body." It nodded and dragged Carter away, leading him down to the basement. He faltered there, pulling his hand away. It looked at him in confusion. He ignored the acidic feeling twisting in his lower stomach and followed. The team wasn't far behind with flashlights.  
Unsurprisingly, the lights didn't work in the basement. He almost fell twice on the uneven wooden stairs. The smell of sickness, feces and decay once again filled his nose. He heard one of the team members gag behind him. They set up the flashlights in the corners of the basement, lighting up most of the cold room. In the corner was something Carter would never forget seeing.


End file.
